This invention relates to pasta composites and more particularly, to such products that have a coherent or unified shape.
Illustrative of a unified product composed of pieces of cooked pasta bonded together is the pasta-based product of U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,752 to Taylor et al. The patent teaches the use of a binding agent "selected from the group consisting of (1) soy protein and (2) egg white compositions comprising a sufficient proportion of egg white to permit the adherence of the discrete pieces of cooked pasta by the baking step". The patent further advises the use of such binding agent "in a cooked pasta to binding agent weight ratio of from about 40:1 to about 10:1" which corresponds to a binder usage of from 2.5% to 10% based on the weight of cooked pasta. Even at the high level of 10% binder, the coherence of pasta pieces provided by egg white is not satisfactory for rapid production of pasta composites in a commercial scale operation. Moreover, the cost of such high usage of egg white limits the saleability of the pasta composites.
Accordingly, a principal object of this invention is to form composites of cooked pasta pieces with a strong binding agent.
Another important object is provide a binding agent that can be used in small proportions relative to cooked pasta to form composites with satisfactory coherence.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description which follows.